LONDON, 01 September (RIA Novosti), Mark Hirst – There remains “substantial doubt” whether the UK Government would be legally permitted to bar British citizens involved in fighting with Islamic Jihadist groups from returning home, a senior Liberal Democrat MP, Sir Menzies Campbell warned Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron.
"There is very substantial doubt whether or not the exclusion of British nationals from the UK would be legal, not least of course because of our international obligations in both treaties and conventions," Sir Menzies Campbell said in response to a statement that Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron made earlier.
“In addition hardly anything has been said about the practicalities of such a proposal. Who would decide? Would any such suspension be without limit of time and in indeed would any appeal be appropriate? In those circumstances a great deal of work needs to be done on the proposal he has outlined,” Campbell added.
On Monday, in a statement to the British Parliament, Cameron said the UK was actively looking at additional specific powers that would allow the authorities to ban British Jihadist suspects from returning home.
“We shouldn't be tearing up international obligations to bring this about. The point that I am making is that we are able to deal with foreign nationals, they can be excluded and we can deal with dual national because we can take away their British passport without rendering them stateless,” Cameron said, responding to Sir Menzies’s claims.
Cameron mentioned that every particular case has to be thoroughly discussed and carefully dealt with.
“But you have the example, for instance someone today, a British citizen who says he wants to come back to Britain in order to wreak havoc and has pledged allegiance to another state and so there is a gap that needs to be properly discussed, properly identified and properly dealt with,” Cameron added.
The UK Government claims around 500 British nationals are currently fighting in Syria and Northern Iraq with a variety of Jihadist groups, including the Islamic State.
Last Friday, the UK raised its threat level from “substantial” to “severe” although the Home Secretary, Theresa May, insisted there was no specific intelligence indicating British Jihadists were planning to carry out a terrorist atrocity.
